Truck loader



April 24, 1928. 1,666,983

E. W. SULLIVAN TRUCK LOADER Filed A g-25. 1926' 2 Sheets-Sheet l wmvm? E W5 LIZ Z 1' van A iil 24, 1928.

E. w. s u LLIVAIN TRUCK LOADER Filed Au 25. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR. E Sal 6 Z van B mm:

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 24, 1928.

UNITED STATES ERNEST W. SULLIVAN ,OF MANTEQA, CALIFORNIA.

I TRUCK mum.

Application filed August 25, 1926. Serial No. 131,373.

This invention relates to improvements in truck loading devices and particularly to one of a portable power driven type for en abling sacks-and other containers of all kinds to be easily lifted 'f rom the ground or the floors of warehouses,; docks or other places and loaded ontoethe truck, thereby eliminating the greater part of the manua physical effort otherwise necessary.

' The principalobject ofm'y' in'ventionis to provide an apparatus for the purpose'which may be easily'transported, set in place for operation, and manipulated, and. by means of which the containers may be expeditiously loaded onto a truck with amin'iinum of physical effort and requiring the services of only one man to operate the'loa'der, espe cially in connection with very heavy? and bulky containers. '7 g I A further object is to provide aloader for the purposewhich maybe easily adjusted to enable the same to be usedjwith' equal facility in connection with various types of trucks in which the floors, or beds are of different heights from the ground.

.A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive deviceand yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claim,

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate correspondingpartsv in the several views Fig. 1 is side elevation; of "myimprov'ed loader, the supportingavheel .on the lnear side being removed.

Fig.2 is a top plan view of the devicewith the power plant removed. I

Referring nowv more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, the loader comprises a container consisting of rigid side frames 1 extending the full length cent conveyor frame.

and Ithelower ones on a shaft '2'.v The PIA-TE Nr OFHCE;

lower shaft is' mounted in bearings 8v which are slidable in the frames 1 and are provided with take-up means of common character so that the tension of the chains can be altered atwill.

ate its endsare transverse and longitudinally spacedbeams 9 and 10. Leaf springs 11 of suitable form extend. between and are connected to said beams, said springs intermediate their ends being attached to a transverse axle beam 12 on the e'n'dsiof which ground bearing wheels13 are mounted. I The lower beam 9' is-connected to the I 7 Disposed under the conveyor intermedi- I frames 1 by, transverse hinges 14-. The up per beam 10 hasa turnable shaft15 mounted thereon, on which shaft are fixed longitudi nally extending cams 16, on the upper surfaces of which the frames '1 .rest. An arm 17 projects radially from one end of the shaft 15 and isconnec'ted by a link 1 8 to a hand operated lever 19 pivoted on the beam 12 between'o'ne of the wheels and the adja- Rigid bars 20 connectthe beams 9 and 10 so as to unite the same to form a rigid frame. The bar on that side on which the lever 19 is mounted is shaped intermediate its ends to form a notched quadrant for engagement with the piawl'21 of the lever, so that the latter may be; held at anydesired number of different positions. It will therefore beseen that ymanipulating this lever the distance from theframe 1 to the beam 10 maybe altered atwill, for the purpose hereinafterseen.

Projecting upwardly from the frames 1 betweenthe'longitudinal plane'of the wheels and the lower end of the conveyor are rigid auxiliary frames22o'n which are mounted a power plant of suitable character such as a small gas engine 23. The longitudinal members 22 of the frame 22, which actually support the engine, are so disposed as to have'a downward slant toward 'the'upper end of the conveyor. The engine is so disposed relativeto the axis of the wheels 13 that itsweight bears down on the conveyor ahead of said axis and causesthe conveyor to normally slope sothat the end having the shaft 7 thereon rests on the ground at all times regardless of the weight of the sacks on the conveyor; while the opposite end of said. conveyor is maintained some distance above ground. This exact distance of course depends on the total overall length of the conveyor and the relative position of the wheel axis with respect to such length. When the conveyor is thus positioned the frame members 22 are substantially horizontal, so that the engine, which is preferably one of the horizontal type, is then restingin its normal position.

In operation the upper end of the conveyor overhangs the bed of the truck, indicated at 24, so that the sacks moving up the conveyor from the lower end thereof will be carried to a point above the truckbedan-d can then easily be handled by men standing on the truck so as to take the sacks from the conveyor and pack them properly on the truck;

By manipulating the lever 19 to raise or lower the upper end of the'conveyor, it will be seen that while the lower end remains resting on the ground the height ofthe upper end is altered. This enables said end (from 'which the sacks are taken by the workers) to be maintained at a height convenient for such workers, regardless of whether the truck is one whose bed is relatively low and near the ground, or a considerable distance therefrom. Y

Projecting "ahead of the lower end of the conveyor and hinged thereto is an apron 25 which always rests'on the groundwhen the device is in operation and serves as a means for aiding in the placing of the sacks in position to be engaged and raised by the con veyor. I

Mounted in and projecting throughthe frames 1 at a. suitable point 'is a transverse shaft 26, on one end of which is loosely mounted a sprocket wheel 27. The opposite end of this shaft is driven from the engine 23 by suitable means such as a belt drive 28. An endless chain 29 extends about the sprocket wheel 27 and also about a sprocket wheel 30 mounted on the upper conveyor shaft (5; an idler sprocket wheel 31 being mounted on the adjacent frame 1' to engage the upper run of the chain 28 adjacent the wheel 30. Mounted in connection 'with the sprocket wheel 27 is a clutch member 32 adapted to be engaged by acooperating clutch member 33 fixed on the shaft 26. The member 33 is connected to a shift arm 34: which is pivoted on a fixed bracket 35.

. From one end of this arm 34 a rod 36 extends to a lever 37 which isrpivoted in connection with the conveyor and is provided with a pawl and quadrant mechanism indicated generally at 38 so that the lever and clutch can be positively held in either its engaged or disengaged position.

Sideboards 39 project upwardly from the frames 1 between the longitudinally spaced frame members 22 so as to avoid any possibility of the sacks catching against said frames as they are moved up the conveyor. A drawbar or tongue structure &0 is connected to and extends ahead of the beam 12 a certain distance for attachment to a truck so that the loader may be transported from one place "to the other as may be desired. The tongue isconnected to the upper cross beam 10 so as to be rigid therewith and normally slopes up to such an extent relative to the conveyor that when said tongue is connectedto the truck and is then in a sub stantially horizontal position, the lower end of 'theconveyor will be off theground. At the same time the nori'nal s'lope of the conveyor is notaltered to such an extent as would cause theengine to have' an excessive forward tilt. The use of the springs between the w'he'els and conveyorred'uces the shocks and jars incident to the operation of the engine, and also "those incident to transportation and aids in enabling the device'to "have a long life and give continuous service without trouble, or repairs having to be made. I I 7 From the foregoing deScription it will be readily seen that I haveproduced such a device assubsta'ntially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein,

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such-deviations from such detail maybe resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the inventiomas defined by the appended claim.

Having thus describedmy invention what I claim as new and useful and desire to'secure by Letters Patent is:

A truck loader comprising conveyor structure arranged to rest onthe ground at one end and to'slope upwardly from said end, a longitudinally extending frame under the conveyor intermediate itsen'ds, means supporting the frame from the ground, hinge connections betweentheconveyor and frame at the lower end of the latter, cam members turnably mounted on'the frame at its upper end'and-on which the conveyor rests, and manually operated lever means mountedontheframe and connected tot-he cam memhers'for turning the same to raise and lower'the conveyor and cause the same to turn about its hinge connection.

In testimony whereof I affix mysignat'ure.

ERNEST SULLIVAN. 

